A near 20-year crisscrossing of paths and collaborations, e.g. within the context of rock bands and free improvisation groups as well in contemporary ensembles, provides the backdrop for the members of the Amsterdam-based CATCH quartet. In 2003 the world premiere of Steve MackeyÕs Dreamhouse - a Holland Festival commission - finally provided the opportunity to bring together the talents of all four musicians on one stage. Since then, the quartet has been involved in further premiere performances (Christopher Fox, Peter Adriaansz), ensemble collaborations (Cappela Amsterdam), and has become the ensemble in residence at the OUTPUT festival in Amsterdam. In April 2007 the group was in residence at Princeton University, culminating in the premiere performance of seven new works specifically written for the occasion. The long-awaited North American premiere of Dreamhouse was presented May 2007 with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project about which Jeremy Eichler of the Boston Globe wrote: "the four guitars (played by the Catch Electric Guitar Quartet) bring some highly unusual sonorities to the orchestra and some turbo-charged power to the work's caterwauling climax." The group collaborated with the Slagwerk Den Haag, featuring a tour of Holland in the Autumn of 2007.

The LOS ANGELES ELECTRIC 8 is a group of eight guitarists who bring the electric guitar to a chamber ensemble, channeling their classical backgrounds into an instrument usually reserved for rock. They rectify the electric guitarÕs absence in classical music, revealing the instrumentÕs enormous potential in the world of art music.

The 8Õs founding principle is to showcase the variety of rich sounds made by guitars and vacuum-tube amplifiers. They draw from and adapt a variety of art music including organ works, string arrangements and Indonesian gamelan pieces. The effect is an exploration of a greater potential of the electric guitar with both intentional and accidental nods to the rock characteristics of the instrumentÑMendelssohn meets Mogwai. The 8Õs sound is a lush interweaving of clean and occasionally overdriven guitar figures that often conjure harpsichords, bells, massive pianos and choral textures. Their repertoire spans the late Renaissance to today, including new works written specifically for the ensemble.